Midsummer offers Benjamin a brief lull between the frenzy of spring sowing and collecting late-summer harvests, giving him time to enjoy the heady scents and beautiful blooms of the garden’s roses
The longer days of June are a blessing with warmer temperatures and increased light levels reflected in the garden’s growth. A highlight for me is to take a stroll at dusk when scents fill the still air and there is just the sound of the last birdsong or bees softly foraging before nightfall.
Though plants are flowering in all manner of forms, it really is a time to celebrate the rose. Shrub forms enrich borders as climbers and ramblers decorate walls, and there are always a few spare to cut and take into the house. I don’t spray our roses for pests or diseases, so rely on good soil and strong healthy plants that will repeat flower through the year. New cultivars I couldn’t be without include the heavenly scented Rosa Desdemona (= ‘Auskindling’), which is also great for large containers, R. Gentle Hermione (= ‘Ausrumba’) and the strong climber R. The Generous Gardener (= ‘Ausdrawn’).
Not that you should forget older roses. R. ‘William Lobb’ provides vibrant flowers and substantial structure in the border, with R. ‘Capitaine John Ingram’, R. ‘Charles de Mills’ and R. ‘Reine des Violettes’ giving compact and repeated colour and scent.
The vigorous rambler R. ‘Paul’s Himalayan Musk’ requires space to offer its best, so I grow one up a mature tree and another over a wall towards our shed roof. Smaller ramblers worth considering include R. ‘Veilchenblau’, with its long, whippy stems that can be trained into decorative shapes over walls and supports.
Stepping away from the roses there is a strong anticipation of abundance; fruits are beginning to form with berries and currants ripening. The leafy bounty of containers spill over their sides, as vegetable beds rapidly become full. To keep this growth going it is important now more than ever to monitor the watering and regularly deadhead as required.
What to sow and plant
Although the spring rush of sowing and planting has peaked, there are still things to keep busy with. I like to sow biennials and perennials now or next month, so that they reach a good size and can be planted out before winter arrives. I can’t resist the elegant spires of Digitalis in all its forms, from charming biennials, such as D. purpurea ‘Sutton’s Apricot’, to the perennial species, including D. lutea and D. parviflora. Delicate Verbascum blattaria f. albif lorum is something I always like to have, informally dotting it around the edges of borders and paths. For cutting or bedding out, it is worth sowing sweet Williams (Dianthus barbatus) and my preferred selections would be the vibrant ‘Oeschberg’, sumptuously dark ‘Sooty’, and the bi-colour ‘Purple Crown’ and ‘Sweet Pink Magic’.
In the vegetable patch there may be some succession sowing of beetroots and carrots or salad leaves and herbs, especially if your existing crops are harvesting now or beginning to bolt. Any last-minute planting out to fill the odd gap can also be done now and I find using quick-growing annuals such as Bupleurum rotundifolium, calendula and tagetes very successful, although it’s worth remembering these plants will need additional watering to help them establish, especially if the weather is hot and dry.
What to harvest and pick
June is often the month where the variety and quantity of what there is to be picked and cut dramatically increases, where eating in season becomes an absolute joy. In the vegetable patch salads and roots should be plentiful, along with the first broad beans, peas and potatoes. Strawberries begin to ripen with early classic cultivars such as ‘Christine’ and ‘Honeoye’, along with good modern ones such as ‘Malling Centenary’.
These fruits are just a prelude to what will be ready next month, and in warmer parts of the country you may also have the first of the cherries, gooseberries and currants, though in our low frost pocket I rarely see these until July. But elderflower cordial is on the agenda and is very easy to make, steeping the washed f lowers overnight in a sugar-and lemon-infused liquid before straining. While it’s delicious in its own right, it’s great in cocktails and desserts and I love adding it to home-made jams and preserves to enrich the flavour.
As with the vegetables there is much to cut for the house and like the borders, herbaceous perennials and roses provide an abundance. Combining soft apricot shades such as Rosa The Shepherdess (= ‘Austwist’) with dark tones of say R. Munstead Wood (= ‘Ausbernard’) will give a romantic and sophisticated display, softened with Alchemilla mollis, Astrantia ‘Roma’ and the first of the sweet peas.
Garden jobs for June
Apply shading to greenhouses. This will help reduce temperatures now summer has arrived. Use a physical barrier, such as hessian or shade mesh, or apply shade paint to the glass.
Summer-prune trained fruit. On apples and pears, shorten current season’s growth back to three buds, while apricot, cherry and peach fans should have entire sections of older stems or branches removed, tying in young replacement growth.
Net crops. Be ahead of the game and protect your crops. A combination of beanpoles and bird netting works well for most soft fruits, while butterfly netting will protect brassicas from caterpillar and pigeon damage.
Trim topiary. You should leave hedge trimming until late summer to avoid disturbing nesting birds, but clip topiaries now to give the garden a crisp look that contrasts nicely with soft planting.
Harvest herbs. Cutting and drying your own herbs now will provide ingredients through winter and encourage new fresh growth through summer. Simply cut, wash and hang somewhere away from sunlight to dry, before grinding and storing in jars.